Between The Drinks & Subtle Things
by InvisibleLines
Summary: Rachel Berry plans the most beautiful weddings, and that's all she does. She hasn't even had a date since graduating high school. But she certainly didn't plan to fall in love with someone's fiancée.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Yes, another story. With it being summer and all, I'm definitely going to try to update more. But I'm in a rut with my other stories and I got this idea and thought that I'd write it, hopefully bring me out of my writer's block. This is inspired by the Wedding Planner! Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Rachel Berry didn't expect anything less from her friend's wedding. She could've told you back in high school that Sugar Motta's wedding was going to be this extravagant. But she definitely would not have foreseen herself planning the wedding for the girl who stole her first boyfriend. But it was her job, the job that she absolutely loved, and her past with Sugar was definitely all in the past.

"The dress is all wrong!"

Rachel glanced at her watch and smiled. The bride freaking out has commenced right on time. Twenty minutes before she's supposed to walk down the aisle.

"It's all wrong, it shows too much cleavage, it's way too long, I'm going to trip on the way down! Rory's probably going to back out last second. He doesn't love me. It's not—"

Rachel took a hold of Sugar's bare shoulders carefully. "Sugar, take a breath."

Sugar listened and she took a deep breath but the frantic look in her eyes didn't dissipate. "Listen to me," Rachel said softly. "You look absolutely beautiful. Your dress is going to be the envy of every single girl in that room. They're all going to be thinking 'Man, I wish I picked that dress!' and they're going to be depressed that they haven't gotten married in order to just wear that dress. And then you're going to walk down that aisle with your dad and you're going to see Rory at the altar, smiling like he's never smiled before and he's going to be thinking that he's marrying the most beautiful, wonderful, and extraordinary woman he's ever known. Then you're going to stand next to him and say your vows and you're going to become his wife. It's going to be everything you've pictured, and more. It will be perfect because you are perfect Sugar. Rory is so lucky and you have nothing to worry about today."

Rachel sighed deeply when Sugar smiled reassured. "Thank you," Sugar whispered to Rachel and gave her a hug. "Thank you for everything. Planning all of this with me even though we—"

Rachel held up a finger, stopping Sugar from saying any more. "It's all in the past and today, it's all about your future. With Rory. Come on, finish getting ready and wait for my cue."

Rachel walked out of the room, but not before fixing Lisa Flanagan's dress and cutting off an itchy tag of one of the flower girl's dresses. She walked to the main hall and saw that mostly all of the guests have already arrived. She saw Kurt standing near the front, surveying the room, and when Kurt and Rachel's eyes locked, Kurt gave her a thumbs up and Rachel nodded.

Rachel walked to the men's dressing room and said, "Okay guys, time to get to your place. Let's go." She ushered them out and started to follow them when she noticed that Rory was still staring at the mirror, a blank expression on his face. Rachel walked into the room and closed the door.

"You're nervous?" she asked him.

"Should I not be? I'm marrying someone, vowing to spend the rest of my life with them. It's daunting," Rory answered blankly.

"But you love Sugar," Rachel reminded him. "You two have been through so much, something no one else would understand. Your love for each other is and will be unmatched."

Rory laughed and turned around to face Rachel. "I know you well enough to know when you sound rehearsed. This is your job, to make the wedding happen."

"Well that may be true," Rachel admitted. "But I mean it this time. You two are perfect for each other and it'll be perfect."

"How much did you and your co-workers bet our wedding would last?" Rory inquired curiously.

"There was no betting, because I know you two will last and for the last 10 weddings we've planned, I've been right," Rachel said with a smile. "So go, marry the love of your life. She's waiting for you."

The wedding went off without a hitch. Rachel let out a relieved sigh when Rory and Sugar finally kissed and Rachel and Kurt high-fived; another wedding success.

At the reception, Rachel looked over all of the decorations and food, making sure everything was in its place. When she was about to make her own plate of food to eat, a plate was held out to her.

Santana Lopez held the plate, which was filled with chocolate snacks, and Rachel grabbed a cookie. "Congrats," Santana told Rachel. "Another success."

"Thanks," Rachel muttered with a full mouth.

"So, when are you going to plan your own?" Santana asked.

Rachel hit her shoulder. "No, the question is, when am I planning yours?"

"No, no, no, when I get married, it'll be in Vegas or something. A shotgun wedding. None of this fanfare and crap." Rachel glared at Santana and she quickly apologized. "Not that it's not hard work or anything. It's all beautiful and stuff but I don't wanna have to go through all this just to marry the one I love. If I find her, I'll marry her, no struggles, no planning. Just marry her."

"How beautiful," Rachel said sincerely. "I agree. Seeing the backstage happenings of a wedding, I wonder why women make the men go through all of that. They fight on how many people should go, they fight on the colors. Why not just do it? Maybe it's a test – to see if they'd stay even through the bridezilla moments. I mean, I love romance. I believe in marrying the one you love and all but, weddings aren't always necessary."

"Never thought of it that way," Santana shrugged. "But hey, my best friend from high school—"

"I thought I was your best friend?" Rachel said jokingly.

"Fine, my _other_ best friend," Santana clarified. "The one I had before I transferred to William McKinley, she just got engaged and I told her I have a friend who plans weddings. So I thought maybe you'd meet her and her fiancée?"

"You just told me why you hate weddings but you want me to plan your best friend's wedding and have her go through all the bad stuff you and I just described?" Rachel asked incredulously. "Do you hate the girl now or something?"

"She said her fiancée wants a good, big wedding and you're the best of the best to plan it so…"

"Fine, give them my number and have them call me."

"Great! Hey, where'd you order these chocolates? They're delicious."

"I'll give you the company," Rachel laughed.

"Oh, by the way, how much did you bet for how long Sugar and Rory's marriage will last?

Rachel scoffed. "Santana, they're our friends. I wasn't going to bet on them."

"_Rachel._"

"Fine...five years."

"Really?" Santana grabbed the nearest wine glass. "I'd say three."

* * *

Rachel walked up the steps to her apartment after getting home from Sugar and Rory's reception. She took off her work clothes, folded them and hung them in her little section in her closet for dry cleaning, and took out a bowl of leftover pasta. She heated it up and waited for the microwave to sound. Once it did, she took her place in front of her couch and played the shows she missed all day._

After an hour of watching TV, Rachel washed her dish and got ready for bed. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and finally, she laid down in bed. She tossed and turned for a while, never finding a comfortable spot, until finally, she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Chapter two is now up! Now before you begin reading, I know that a lot of people don't like OC's, but there will be one in this story and she'll be introduced in this chapter. I hope you guys are still willing to give it a chance, and if not then thanks for reading.

This chapter may be a bit confusing in some parts, but trust me, it'll all make sense in the end. I think you guys will really overall enjoy this story. :) Thanks for all the feedback I've gotten thus far, keep it up, and enjoy!

* * *

"So, Rachel, when are _you_ going to get married?"

"Finn!"

"Oh come on LeRoy, you know you and Hiram talk about this when Rachel and I aren't around."

Rachel was having a breakfast with both her fathers and good childhood friend, Finn. It was a weekly ritual, every Sunday before they went to church.

Although the Berry's were Jewish, they always joined Finn at church. After his mother passed, they made it their responsibility to keep Finn's faith alive, and continue with the tradition that him and his mother had.

Finn, a year older than Rachel and was engaged, teased her often about her relationship status and her ironic job. The Berry's had always thought of Finn as a brother figure to Rachel. However, Rachel hated the fact that he loved picking on her, ever since they were little kids to now as adults.

"But come on," Finn turned to Rachel. "It's just sad."

"Mind your own business," Rachel said angrily. "You may be engaged but you're not married yet."

"But at least I know I'll have a future with someone," Finn retorted with his mouth full.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Rachel rolled her eyes. "I happen to be really good at guessing how long marriages last, or is it because I say how long it will that it happens to turn out that way? I'm not sure, but you might not want to be so confident."

Finn was laughing the entire time until he finally registered what Rachel said, making Rachel smirk to herself. "Wait, what does that mean?"

"Rachel," LeRoy interrupted. "Is there anyone you're interested in? Are you even dating?"

"What did you mean?" Finn asked Rachel desperately, still thinking about her words.

"I have a job that I love, isn't that enough for me? I'm only in my early twenties, I don't want to rush into anything," Rachel told her father. "Look, what happens…will happen. I'm not gonna force things to happen just because you guys, especially this jerk over here, are pressuring me."

"I agree with Rachel," Hiram added. "She's establishing herself first as a successful wedding planner; she has time to think about marriage."

"Thank you," Rachel smiled at her dad. Her phone started ringing and she walked out of the room to answer it, hearing Finn ask her parents about what she had meant earlier. Once they were out of ear shot, Rachel answered her phone. "Rachel Berry."

"Hi! This is Kacie Martin. Santana Lopez gave me your phone number, said you're a wedding planner?" A cheerful voice said on the other line.

"Yes, that's me. Kacie, was it?"

"Correct. I was wondering if we could meet up very soon and see if you're the one we're looking for to plan my wedding. My girl trusts Santana, so if she recommended you, you must be fantastic!"

"Well, there's a wedding on Tuesday actually, I could have you and your fiancée come and see how it's turned out and we can meet and discuss things during the reception," Rachel told her.

"That's actually perfect for me! My fiancée won't be able to come because of work, but do you mind if I bring my parents?"

"Not at all." Rachel and Kacie exchanged information and set their meeting arrangement for Tuesday. When Rachel hung up the phone, it was only then that she realized that Kacie Martin was the daughter of a publishing CEO, and was probably extremely wealthy. She had to go to work immediately to talk to her boss about this and maybe this could be the way to get the promotion she was working towards for a year now.

Rachel walked into the kitchen and started gathering her things. "I'm sorry guys but I have to go to work right now."

"Rachel, it's Sunday," LeRoy said.

"I know but this is really important! I could land the wedding that could get me promoted!" she said excitedly. "I have to go!" Rachel walked hastily out of her parents' house and quickly drove over to her work. After saying hello to all who were there, she barged into her boss Sue Sylvester's office.

"Rachel, it's Sunday," Sue turned around in her swivel chair upon hearing her door open. "Aren't you supposed to be praying to God today?"

"I think I landed a big wedding," Rachel said, out of breath. "You know Daniel Martin? Of the Martin Publishing Group?"

"Of course; his daughter's engagement is all over the paper," Rachel's boss held up the newspaper that was on her desk. "Wait, don't tell me—"

"I have a connection to his daughter. My good friend is friends with the daughter's fiancée and she called me earlier and asked if we could meet," Rachel said quickly. "Sue, if I get this, it could be the biggest wedding we've ever had!"

Sue nodded impressed and sat back in her seat. "And," Rachel continued and walked closer to the desk. "If I actually do get this wedding, you'll make me a partner."

Sue started laughing and Rachel narrowed her eyes at her boss. "I make more than all of your planners combined," Rachel reminded her and Sue's laughing faltered. "Times four."

"Yeah, I know," she rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me."

"Imagine what would happen if we become partners after this massive wedding! More business! More _rich_ business. We'd be on the map for sure! Sue, you need me and I need you to make me partner," Rachel said seriously.

"Not happening," She spun around in her seat to face away from Rachel.

Rachel sighed and said, "Guess I'll have to start my own wedding planning business and bring all of my connections with me."

Slowly, Sue Sylvester turned around and Rachel knew she got her. "You wouldn't dare," She challenged.

"I have a friend who knows business and has been telling me to start my own. He can make it happen in a second." Rachel pulled out her phone and was ready to dial. "So, what do you say?"

* * *

"_Never have I met such a beautiful and in-love couple…in my life…and in movies…Rose and Jack have nothing on you two_…raise your glass," Rachel was speaking into her headset softly as the maid of honor repeated her words and once everyone started clapping, Rachel turned off the headset and sighed in relief. She emerged from behind a wall and started clapping too. She gave a thumbs-up to the maid of honor when she looked her way.

"You were feeding the maid of honor her speech weren't you?"

Rachel turned around and saw a dark haired woman in a dressy business suit. Rachel didn't recognize her as being part of the wedding crowd so she must've been Kacie Martin. "You caught me," Rachel admitted sheepishly.

"Genius!" Kacie complimented. "Please, do the same thing for my maid of honor. She can't be romantic or write speeches at all."

"Of course," Rachel laughed. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rachel Berry."

"Kacie Martin," she introduced herself. "My parents are here somewhere, I told them not to eat any of the food since we aren't actually guests but I think they've done exactly that."

"That's fine, there's going to be a lot of wasted food anyways," Rachel shrugged. "Always is."

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel saw an excited couple at the chocolate fountain and then she heard a groan. "Those would be my parents," Kacie said annoyed. "Not embarrassing at all."

Rachel followed Kacie to her parents and watched her scold them, saying, "Mom, Dad, we're not guests of the wedding, stop eating the food and since you'll do it anyways, at least try not to create such a scene."

"I'll leave them a nice gift if you want honey," Kacie's father said. "But come on, a chocolate fountain! You have to get one for your wedding. You can arrange that, right dear?"

Rachel nodded. "Of course, that's probably the easiest thing to get."

"So, you're the wedding planner? You planned this affair?" Kacie's mother looked at Rachel, up and down. "This is very impressive. The flowers are beautiful."

"Thank you," Rachel smiled. "The groom actually picked out the flowers. I try to get the groom to be involved with the wedding process. It's much easier on the bride if her partner takes more responsibility of it. The one way I get them to be more part of it is to have them do something outside, like looking at flowers. By now they usually know what flowers their soon-to-be-wife likes so they take that into consideration and if they don't, well then you know you have a problem."

The Martin's started laughing and Kacie's mother nodded in agreement. "You are absolutely correct there. So, what do you envision for our little girl's wedding?"

Rachel cleared her throat. "Well, having now met you and knowing a little bit about your family, I see…" She started walking away a bit, picturing the wedding in her mind. The Martin's gathered around her, already intrigued. "A night wedding…outside…large dark tents with little lights built on them to make it look like the night sky; lots of twinkling lights lining the inside of the tents, white chairs, white flowers, all white to counter the dark of the night. Simple yet classy wedding invitations. Wait, no, the ceremony will take place at sunset then the reception will be at night. And at the end of the night, a white car will whisk the happy couple away as the guests throw glitter in celebration." Rachel sighed and turned back around to the family. They were all in awe and finally, Kacie's father straightened up.

"I like you, you're hired," he said, holding out his hand.

Rachel shook his hand politely but on the inside she was already freaking out. She shook Kacie's hand as well. "I can't wait for you to meet Lucy! She's going to love you. She told me she wanted a night wedding, this seems to be a match made in wedding heaven," Kacie said happily. "I think she's off on Friday so maybe we can meet up for lunch? My parents wanted to see a place where we could have the wedding."

"Sure," Rachel agreed. "Friday it is."

* * *

"You booked the Martin wedding! You're going to be partner!"

Rachel chuckled at Kurt's over enthusiasm as she walked to her car, which was parked very far away from the reception hall. "Not yet Kurt, only once the wedding is over and successful. But I think it's going to be great. Kacie seems really sweet and easy to work with, her parents are…eccentric but they seem to love me. I haven't met the fiancée yet but I will soon. It's Santana's friend so I hope she's something like her."

"Speaking of Santana," Kurt said slowly. "When will you two ever try…you know, _you two_ out?"

"Seriously Kurt?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "Santana and I are and will always be just friends. If you like her so much, you date her."

"Ew, I can't date Santana, she's like my sister…and you know I don't play on that team."

"Well Santana's like a sister to me too," Rachel told her. "Why are you on my case about dating? I already got that from both my dad's and Finn, I don't need you to—" Rachel felt her heel get caught in something and she looked down to see that it was caught in a manhole on the road. She wiggled her foot around, with no success. "Uh Kurt, I gotta go." Rachel put her phone away and leaned down to take her heel out.

She suddenly heard a noise from down the street and noticed a large dumpster, seemingly wobbling its way out of control in her direction, and she started to panic. "Oh no, no, no," she ranted as she forced her foot out. She got her foot out of her heel and started running away but then looked back at her shoe. "Those are my new Prada's, I can't—" She ran to it and grabbed it. Unsuccessfully she was pulling at her shoe as the dumpster got closer and closer.

Out of nowhere, Rachel was on her back and her head was in pain. A large weight was on her body and faintly, she heard worried chatter around her. Someone's warm breath was in her face and a warm hand touched her cheek. "Hey, hello? Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Slowly, Rachel opened her eyes and saw the greenest pair of eyes staring back at her. "Where's my shoe?"

"Your shoe? Oh, you got it," the woman touched her hand and Rachel registered the feeling of the leather in her hand. "You almost got hit by that dumpster because of your shoe."

"You saved…" Rachel weakly said. "…my shoe."

The woman smiled and Rachel felt even weaker than she already was. "Okay, do you think you can get up?"

The girl helped Rachel up to her feet very slowly, keeping her arm around her waist protectively the entire time. When Rachel finally got onto her feet, her knees buckled and she had to close her eyes. The pain in the back of her head was too much. The last thing she remembered was being lifted up in someone's arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: I'm so happy with all the positive feedback this story is getting! Thank you all so much! This chapter has Gone with the Wind references, so if you haven't seen that movie or read the book but are planning to then be aware of slight spoilers. Only slight, nothing major.

Thanks for reading! Please review!

* * *

"I think she's dead."

"No dummy, if she's dead then that thing wouldn't be beeping. It would be like beeeeeeeep."

"Then why can't I feel her pulse?"

Rachel had no idea why she was hearing children's voices. _Am I dead?_ She thought. But finally, she heard an adult voice.

"Because you're supposed to feel her wrist or her neck, silly boy! You kids run along, I need to check on our patient. What was your diagnosis?"

A boy piped up. "Too tired looking. Maybe she should eat more."

"Thank you Lucas, I will tell our patient that. Now run along!" The adult made growling noises, causing the kids to shriek and run out of the room until finally it was quiet. Rachel thought it was safe to open her eyes and once she did, she realized that there was something covering her neck and her eyes went wide.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked hastily, trying to get up. "Am I paralyzed?"

The adult, a female doctor, laughed a little and gently pushed Rachel back down to the bed. "If you were paralyzed, your legs wouldn't be moving like that. Now relax, you need to rest for a little while more before I can discharge you."

"Where am I?" Rachel softly asked, feeling the neck brace. "What happened?"

"You are at St. William's Children's Hospital," the doctor said. She was close enough for Rachel to see her name stitched onto her white jacket. _Dr. Judy C. Fabray. _"And my daughter brought you here after what she described to be an accident involving a shoe and a dumpster."

Rachel remembered almost being run over by the dumpster but being saved by a woman with the most beautiful green eyes. She looked back at Dr. Fabray and saw the resemblance between her savior and her doctor. "Right," Rachel said sheepishly. "I was trying to get my shoe out of a manhole…it got stuck."

"Let me guess, expensive?"

Rachel found herself laughing and nodding. "Yes."

"Well I'm glad my daughter saved you and your shoe," Dr. Fabray laughed. "Your scans look fine. We ran every test to make sure that you do not have a concussion or any bleeding in your brain, just to take precaution. I originally found it unnecessary to run all of the tests because after your initial exam, there was no sign of anything more serious than shock and a bump on the head but my daughter convinced me to make sure. I was surprised at how convincing she became, she's never been so worried about a patient before."

Rachel blushed at the doctor's words and hoped that she wouldn't notice. "Where is she?" Rachel asked. "I'd like to thank her."

"Actually, I have no idea," the doctor admitted. "She told me she'd still be here when you wake up but I haven't seen her for about an hour. She's probably around the hospital. I'll have her meet us in my office when I have your discharge papers ready. It looks like everything is fine and you can leave. The nurse will show you to my office once you're ready, okay?"

Rachel nodded and thanked the doctor. She got ready in her normal clothes which were placed on a chair in the room and asked a nurse to take her to Dr. Fabray's office. Once there, Rachel looked around the room at all the books and certificates on the walls. She saw a family picture on the doctor's desk and picked it up. She recognized the green eyed girl but in a teenage version of herself, standing between her parents and all of them smiling.

"How are you feeling?"

Rachel jumped and put the frame back as quickly as possible on the desk. When she turned around, she had a hand to her chest and was breathing deeply. But then she saw who it was that spoke the words and she felt her heart race at the sight of Dr. Fabray's daughter.

"Sorry," she apologized and walked into the room. "Didn't mean to scare you. Well, I probably would have startled you if I was in the room when you woke up which is why I decided to take a lap around the hospital and said hi to all the kids but the 'not scare you' plan was just ruined."

Smiling embarrassedly, Rachel just nodded. The woman walked closer to her and motioned to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Rachel took a seat while the girl took the seat beside her.

"I'm Quinn, Fabray," she told her, holding a hand out.

Rachel shook her hand firmly. "Rachel—"

"Berry, I know," Quinn smiled.

"Right," Rachel mentally smacked herself, "Right, of course."

"Sorry. We had to go through your wallet to find your I.D. May I say, I've never seen anyone alphabetize their credit cards before."

Rachel was redder than ever. She was so embarrassed now, she just wanted to take Dr. Fabray's discharge papers and run out of the office. "Thank you," Rachel surprised herself when she stood up so hastily from her seat and rushed her words. "I mean, thank you for saving me and bringing me to the hospital. I was ridiculous for trying to save my shoe and you still saved someone acting stupid. So…thanks."

Rachel walked towards the door, rushing to leave, but she was stopped when Dr. Fabray walked into the room. "Oh Rachel, good, you're already here," the doctor said. "And I see you've met my daughter. Come, sit down."

Rachel made a defeated face to herself and walked back to her seat and avoided eye contact with Quinn, who she saw was looking at her curiously.

"So Rachel, we called your most recent phone call and told them about the accident so—"

"Oh no," Rachel said out loud. "He must be—"

"RACHEL! WHERE IS SHE? SHE'S NOT DEAD, IS SHE?"

Kurt's voice came closer and Rachel turned around to see an annoyed nurse escorting him into the office. "Rachel! Oh my God, you're okay!" Kurt pulled Rachel from her seat and gave her a tight hug. "They called me and said you almost got run over and I dropped everything to come, but I got a little lost because I thought you were at the other hospital not the little kid hospital. Oh thank goodness you're okay!"

"Kurt, calm down," Rachel said to him. "As you can see, we're not alone so…"

Rachel gestured to the doctor and Quinn and Kurt shut his mouth and pretended to zip and lock it. Rachel sat back in her seat and Dr. Goldsworthy handed her a folder. "Well now that we know you're in good hands," the doctor looked at Kurt and smiled a little. "You can go now."

"Thank you," Rachel told the doctor sincerely. Then she turned her head to Quinn. "And thank you, again. Seriously, if there was any way I could repay you…"

Quinn smiled and Rachel remembered how she felt weak at the knees when she did the same thing right after she saved her. "Well…" Quinn began but Kurt cut her off.

"Maybe we can invite you to this outdoor movie event," Kurt said quickly, pulling Rachel out of her seat again. "It's really fun. It's in this big field and there's crazy food you don't normally see in movie theaters and I'm pretty sure they're showing Gone with the Wind tomorrow night."

"I love Gone with the Wind," Quinn smiled.

"Rachel does too! I don't, I couldn't make it past the first fifty pages of that thousand page book but you should come…with us." Rachel wanted to punch her best friend in the face for doing this extremely obvious set up. Kurt was being way too obvious and the fact that he was doing this was extremely annoying to her. She didn't want to be set up; especially with a girl she didn't even know. For all she knew, Quinn Fabray could be some kind of serial killer.

"I'll be there." Quinn agreed happily, "Won't miss the chance to see one of my favorite movies on a giant screen."

"Great! We'll see you at Levitt Park tomorrow at 8!" Kurt practically pulled Rachel out of the office and once they were out of the hospital, Rachel smacked him on his arm. "What? I'm trying to help you!"

"No, you're trying to humiliate me and prevent me from ever being able to show my face in front of her or her doctor mother again! You weren't being very discreet about it, you know." Rachel was livid and angrily walking to Kurt's car.

"Rachel, while I was talking in the office, that girl's eyes wouldn't tear away from you! And when you sat down, she kept looking at you. And she swallowed nervously when you turned to look at her! She's obviously into you, you're just too blind!"

"Love is blind," Rachel muttered to herself but Kurt heard it.

"Exactly! And I'm here to be your eyes. Just hang out with her, see what she's like. You don't have to marry the girl but you have to at least go out there and meet people. You're not gonna have a happily ever after if you're too scared to even turn the first page."

Rachel looked at Kurt, his eyes practically pleading, and Rachel surrendered. "Fine, I'll…try to…be 'first-date-y'. But you're gonna be there right?"

"Of course," Kurt smiled.

* * *

Rachel sat on one of the benches near her favorite tree in Levitt Park and watched old-time movie previews. Kurt sat beside her, looking around. After a minute, Rachel saw Quinn walking back towards them with an arm full of snacks.

"Here's your box of jelly beans," Quinn held out for Kurt and sat down beside him.

"Thanks," Kurt said. Then in his obvious fake voice he said, "Oh darn, I forgot. I have to be at…my mom's…friend's…daugher's…graduation…party…"

"It's November," Quinn said awkwardly but Rachel could tell she was teasing him.

"Graduation from…being a news writer to an…editor," Kurt covered up very badly. "But I have to go, enjoy the movie, bye!"

Rachel started to protest and called Kurt back but then she felt Quinn scoot over closer, holding out the tray of chocolate covered snacks and candy. "I've never seen vendors offer such heart attack inducing things before. My mom would kill me if she saw this."

Rachel found herself laughing genuinely and she took one of the sticks with three chocolate covered things on it. "What's on this?" she asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Marshmallows maybe?"

Rachel eyed it nervously but shrugged and took a bite. After having to chew for several seconds, she nodded, "Yup, marshmallow. This is really sweet."

"You want another?"

"No," Rachel laughed. "Not even. I might just have those little chocolates."

"Well, I want one." Quinn took the stick from Rachel's hand and took a bite. Rachel watched as Quinn had trouble chewing whatever it was she took a bite from. "That wasn't a marshmallow…that was a strawberry."

"No way! I love strawberries," Rachel said happily.

Quinn scrunched up her face. "I'm not a fan. Ugh, ew. Not even chocolate can save this."

"Did you just say that you hated strawberries? What kind of person are you?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"An unbelievable one apparently," Quinn teased, putting the stick down in the tray. "Oh look, it's starting."

Rachel looked up at the screen to see the incredibly long intro begin. After ten minutes of watching the movie, Rachel felt slightly cold in her cardigan. She started rubbing her arms and then felt a jacket coming over her shoulders.

"No," Rachel started but Quinn shook her head and tightened it around Rachel.

"We may have just met but I'm not just gonna let a girl freeze," Quinn smirked. "Don't be a Scarlett, just accept it."

"Are you saying that you're Rhett?" Rachel asked. She was surprised at her own flirting tone but she was proud of herself.

"Oh no," Quinn laughed. "I don't think I have Rhett's persistence. He chased after Scarlett for years. I admire his determination. I believe he was a romantic, even though he didn't really show that he was romantic to Scarlett. Or maybe it was because Scarlett was just blind to it. Yeah, maybe that's it. Rhett always loved her; Scarlett just didn't accept it because she thought she loved Ashley Wilkes and Rhett knew it. I couldn't be like that, no way."

Rachel remained quiet, silently agreeing to what Quinn said and continued to watch the movie. "You know who my favorite character is?" Rachel whispered to Quinn.

"Who?"

"Melanie." she answered, "Such a genuinely good hearted person. Trusted her husband and Scarlett with everything she had, unaware of what was going on between Scarlett and Ashley. She saw the good in everyone. I wish I was like that, have such optimism about everything and everyone. But in my line of work, I've learned to notice who can be trusted and who can't. But like you admire Rhett, I admire Melanie. She's just…too good, for her own good."

"I like her too," Quinn said.

Rachel turned her head to Quinn and saw that she was staring at her. "What do you like about her?" Rachel asked nervously.

"What's not to like?" she replied, still staring at her. "You can't say that there's a flaw. She's kind of perfect."

"She is. She knows when to ask for help. Obviously, I don't do that," Rachel joked, pointing to her shoe.

"Well there's something good about that too. Self-reliant, independent," Quinn said, "Strong. I like that."

Rachel pressed her lips together and looked away from Quinn. She was starting to feel extreme butterflies in her stomach, something she hadn't felt in a long time, maybe even ever.

"You know, you're kind of like Rhett," Rachel piped up after a long moment of silence.

"Oh no," Quinn said.

"No, this is a good thing," she assured her. "When Scarlett needed to get out of the town when it was under attack, Rhett had a carriage and the horse and he saved Scarlett and the sick Melanie. You saved me, kind of like Rhett saving Scarlett."

"I didn't think of that," Quinn raised a brow.

"You're heroic, like Rhett, my favorite male character in any book I've ever read," Rachel said slowly. She looked at Quinn through her peripheral vision and found her scratching her head. "Well, except Atticus Finch. No one compares to him."

Rachel then saw Quinn laughing. "Wow, I've never had the pleasure to be talking to someone who loves classic books. Most people I know don't even read books, more magazine people."

"I hate magazines, all about making money with advertisements or making up stories about the people we watch on screens," Rachel scoffed. "Sometimes I wish I were in that era, Scarlett's era. Then all I'd have to worry about is what rumors I hear from the chatty neighbors, not the ones in print."

"You're really fun to talk to," Quinn blurted out.

Rachel blushed and pursed her lips to the side. "Well, you're not so bad either." She suddenly felt the urge to lean in and kiss her, but decided in her mind that she'll make a move but she won't be the one to lean in all the way. So, she started to lean in extremely slowly and she saw that Quinn was leaning in slightly also. But then Rachel felt a drop fall on her head.

She looked up and raindrops started falling on her forehead. After a minute, the slight drizzle went to full out pouring. Rachel shrieked and felt her hand being tugged away from the bench.

Rachel and Quinn ran to the parking lot, hand in hand and laughing. Quinn walked Rachel to her car and Rachel did not want to say goodbye but she knew that the rain had ended their date. It didn't matter that the date ended without a kiss. Rachel drove home on a cloud anyways.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: New chapter, hope you guys enjoy! Don't forget to review!

* * *

"Is something wrong with her?"

"I've never seen her so happy."

"Do you think she…you know…did drugs?"

"I hope you guys know that I can hear you," Rachel told the ones she passed by on her way to her office. She was happy, not deaf. The two who were whispering behind her scrambled away embarrassed but Rachel continued to walk as if she were floating all the way to her office. Once inside, she sat down in her chair and sighed happily.

When Kurt walked into her office, he froze at the sight of the happy Rachel. "Okay, spill! What happened?" Kurt sat down in the chair in front of Rachel's desk, completely forgetting why he came into her office.

"Nothing," Rachel answered coyly.

"Nothing my butt! Come on, tell me! Did you kiss?"

Rachel shook her head. "No but it was still magical. We really…we had a good conversation and…we _almost_ kissed but it started raining."

"Ugh," Kurt groaned. "What the hell, mother nature?"

"But we laughed about it and she walked me to my car and…I think I really like her," Rachel admitted airily. "I barely know the girl but she made a great first impression."

Kurt gushed, holding both hands to his heart. "Finally. I've been waiting such a long time for you to finally have feelings for someone. And _this_ girl is perfect for you."

"You barely even know her," Rachel rolled her eyes as she turned on her computer.

"I know enough," Kurt said. "I know that she's a hero. She's a really nice girl. And I know how happy she makes you. Look at you!"

Rachel shook her head while smiling. "Let me work Kurt. I have research to do for the Martin wedding."

"Oh, that reminds me," Kurt stood up. "Kacie called, said she wanted you to meet her fiancée tomorrow. Some lunch or something. She said she'd call or email you later today to tell you the details. And you have to drive the Brady's to their dance lesson at 3."

"Right." Rachel groaned, "Another dance lesson to sit through. Okay. Thanks Kurt."

"No problem." Kurt started walking to the door. Once at the doorframe, he stopped. "I'm really happy for you Rachel."

"Thanks," Rachel smiled sincerely. "But…it's not like anything's happened. It was one night."

"One _magical_ night," Kurt reminded her. He left the room, leaving Rachel to her happy thoughts of the night before.

Rachel was reminiscing of how Quinn's hand felt in hers, how she looked at her and how her eyes were such a beautiful shade of green, how they were able to have a conversation about books, one of her favorite things in the world. Quinn was the kind of girl Rachel imagined in her mind whenever she watched the bride walk down the aisle. And now she found her and she couldn't believe it. She found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe, it could be her turn eventually.

* * *

Later that day Rachel had the Brady bride, Elise, in the passenger seat of her car and they were going to the dance lesson where the groom, Derek, would be meeting them. Rachel was trying to calm Elise down about Derek's inability to find any sort of rhythm in his body. This was one of the annoying things about being a wedding planner. You not only become a chauffeur but also a therapist in every aspect of the wedding process. Rachel also kind of despised having to be at the dancing lessons since she'd been to so many. She could dance better than most now after witnessing dozens of couples learning to dance.

Once at the rehearsal hall, Derek and Elise went off to find a spot on the dance floor and Rachel found a seat on the side and she pulled out her phone. She started answering one of Kacie's emails about lunch tomorrow when she heard someone call her name.

When Rachel looked up she was surprised to see Kacie waving to her near the door. The bride-to-be was wearing business looking attire, not like she was supposed to be practicing for her first wedding dance. Kacie walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Kacie asked. "Stalking me?"

"Of course, I stalk all of my clients," Rachel joked. "Actually I'm here with another couple. They're here for their third rehearsal."

"You accompany your clients to dance rehearsal as well? My goodness, you are absolutely the best! I knew you would be great for the job. Well I'm glad that you're here, you can meet my fiancée! I emailed you about lunch tomorrow, which we can still go to if you want, but now you can finally meet Lucy."

Rachel watched as Kacie pulled out her phone to call someone but then she turned away when she heard a crash on the opposite side of the room. One of the couples managed to fall on top of each other, making huge commotion, and Rachel had to stop herself from laughing. She'd seen it happen so many times and it never got old.

"Ah, here she is. Honey, over here! Rachel, I'd like you to meet my fiancée Lucy. Babe, this is Rachel Berry."

Rachel was smiling when she turned back to Kacie but her smile quickly faltered when she saw the woman standing beside her most important client to date. The girl she was quickly smitten with even though they only spent an hour together. The girl who charmed her socks off. The girl who saved her. It seemed that she was equally shocked as well because neither of them even made the attempt to introduce themselves to avoid any weirdness.

Finally, Rachel managed to compose herself and held out her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Quinn returned the handshake slowly, "Likewise."

They looked at each other, both in disbelief and shock and anger, on Rachel's part. She turned away from them slightly, pretending to watch the practicing couples, but she mouthed to herself "Oh my god" and turned back.

"Oh Lucy, you have no idea how perfect Rachel is. We're gonna have the best wedding all because of her," Kacie gushed. Her phone started ringing and she answered it just as the dance instructor began.

"Okay, all couples on the dance floor! We'll be assessing either your first impressions of dancing or your progress, since many of you have been here before. Hey! Why are you on your phone?" the instructor asked Kacie.

Kacie waved him off. "These two are together," she said to him, pointing to Rachel and her fiancée. Rachel started to protest just as Quinn was but the instructor pulled them to the middle of the dance floor.

"Okay, now that we're all set, start the music!"

The music began and Rachel rolled her eyes at Quinn and started to walk off but the instructor blocked her way. "Dance," he said to her. The instructor pushed Rachel into Quinn and manipulated their arms onto each other's bodies and into the right position. "Now dance!"

Rachel had one hand in Quinn's hand and the other on her shoulder while Quinn's arm wrapped around her back. They started to dance to the waltz music, Quinn leading them, and they flowed over the dance floor gracefully.

"I can't believe you," Rachel muttered angrily. Quinn released her to spin and pulled her back to her body. "You pathetic, lying, cheating—"

"How long will this name calling last?" Quinn asked in a whisper, still leading Rachel along the floor. "Besides, I wasn't cheating. What was I doing last night? I went to see a movie, a movie that I love."

"Yeah, with a woman you barely know," Rachel replied. She paused to be dipped down and was pulled back up. "You don't do that when you're engaged. Unless—"

"Unless what?" Rachel felt Quinn's hold on her back falling down closer to her bum and she forcefully pushed her hand up.

"Unless they have cold feet," Rachel scoffed. "I see it all the time."

"I don't have cold feet," Quinn defended. "I was asked to hang out, I went to hang out, I watched Gone with the Wind accompanied by a nice person. I don't see the harm in that."

"So I never knew that Lucy's like to be called Quinn, or is that your name when you're pretending not to be engaged?"

Quinn spun her away and back, practically shoving Rachel back against her body and Rachel almost grunted in pain. "Quinn's my middle name. I prefer to be called that than my actual name which, _yes_, is Lucy. And you do remember that my mom calls me Lucy too."

"I don't recall her saying your name actually, she said 'my daughter' a lot," Rachel told her, remembering those minutes in Dr. Fabray's office vividly. "She never said Lucy."

"How do you remember that?" Quinn asked. Rachel noticed how the other couples had moved off to the side to watch them.

"I'm good with details," she whispered discreetly. "And I also don't remember you telling me that you were engaged before going on a date with me."

"So you thought it was a date?"

"It was!" Rachel said almost too loudly, "Movie? I mean, come on."

"With your friend. I didn't know he'd leave with such a convincing excuse," Quinn told her. "It wasn't a date."

"Oh yeah?" Rachel was dipped down one last time. When she was pulled back up and her head was close to Quinn's she asked her, "So why'd you almost kiss me?"

Applause irrupted around them and Rachel felt her chest heaving up and down. Realizing she was still in Quinn's arms, she pulled away quickly and saw that Quinn couldn't answer her question. Kacie approached the two while clapping and said, "You're a dancing expert too? Lucy, isn't she just amazing?"

Quinn said nothing but smiled at her fiancée. Rachel walked back to her things, avoiding the engaged couple, and pulled out her phone.

"_So much to tell you. Come over tonight,_" she typed on her phone and sent the text. For the next hour she had to watch both the Brady's and Kacie with Quinn dancing. Quinn, or _Lucy,_ was having trouble getting Kacie to follow the steps and Rachel couldn't help but roll her eyes and look away when she caught Quinn's eyes on her.

"_I'll be there with food. 7 sound good?" _Rachel read the text she received and replied back with a yes. When the dancing lessons were over, Rachel quickly said goodbye to the Brady's and managed to avoid Kacie. She ran to her car and drove off as quickly as possible, muttering annoyed comments and obscenities to herself.

"_Engaged. Fucking engaged. To a Martin! You'd think she'd say she was engaged but noooo. You don't just go to a movie with someone you barely know and almost kiss them! Ugh. I can't believe I fell for this girl."_

Rachel ranted all the way home and while she waited for food to arrive. She was angrily flipping through the channels when there was a knock on her front door. She yelled "It's open!" and continued to flip through the channels, getting annoyed that there was nothing on.

"I've come with reinforcements!" Santana lifted her brown bag of food and then placed it on the coffee table. "Thought I'd add some ice cream too, your text was cryptic enough for me to know that I think you need it tonight. So what's up?"

Rachel started pulling out the food from the bag when she began her story. "I…I went out on a date yesterday. Well I thought it was a date but—"

"A date? Really? I'm happy for you," Santana smiled. "But what happened? Did she try something?"

"No, she was…she was perfect last night," Rachel admitted with a regretful sigh. "It was after she saved me from getting run over by the dumpster; I'm sure Kurt has told you."

"He did," Santana nodded. "So the girl saves you from getting run over and you managed to get a date with her?"

"Kurt practically forced her to go to the Gone with the Wind screening with us. And when we were there, he bailed! So I was left with her for a while and…it seemed like a date. We talked about our favorite characters and books and I've never been able to do that with anyone! And we even…"

"Even?"

"We almost kissed. She leaned towards me, I leaned towards her," Rachel put her food down to put her hands over her face.

"So what was the problem?"

"Your friend, the one you gave me the number of so I could plan their wedding, that's the girl I went on a date with yesterday," Rachel confessed.

It took a minute for Santana to register what she had just heard, but once it did it seemed she was even madder than Rachel. Her face turned red and she slammed her sandwich down on the table and stood up from her seat. She shouted "What?" so loudly that Rachel knew the sleeping receptionist at the main floor probably heard her. "I'm going to kill her," Santana growled. "That little son of a—"

"Hey! Whoa, calm down," Rachel put her hands on her shoulders. "You're angrier than me!"

"You should be angrier than me, you just got played! By my BEST FRIEND for crying out loud! I'm really going to murder her, I can't believe she'd do this to you," Santana was really fuming. She started to pull out her phone but Rachel managed to snatch it from her hand. "What are you doing?"

"You're not calling her, not right now," Rachel told her. "Santana, I need this job. I need to plan this wedding."

"Like hell you're not, Quinn cheated on her fiancée, she hurt you! I'm not letting her off the hook for this!"

"Santana," Rachel forced her to sit down. "If I get this wedding done, I'm a partner of the business."

"Are you serious?" Santana finally calmed down a little when she heard Rachel's good news. "But…Quinn…she—"

"She's a client of mine and I'm not gonna get involved. Whatever it was yesterday, I'm choosing to ignore it and move on. I appreciate that you care about me so much that you'd yell at your other best friend but it might make things worse. Maybe I shouldn't have told you but I needed to tell someone rational, which Kurt is certainly not. But please, don't say anything that might jeopardize me becoming partner."

Rachel was on her knees practically pleading to Santana. She was grateful to have someone care for her as much as Santana did but she certainly did not expect that reaction from her.

"You don't want me to say anything?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. "Even though she's a jerk for what she did?"

"Yes," Rachel nodded again. "I saw her today and she obviously didn't think of last night the same way I did so it doesn't even matter. Santana, I'll get over it. I'm fine now. I have you to get me through it." Rachel smiled.

Santana pulled her off the floor and had Rachel sit on the couch beside her. "Kurt told me today that you were practically floating on a cloud," she confessed. "He even said that maybe you found the one."

"Can't trust anyone these days," Rachel laughed slightly. "Except you and Kurt; that's all I need."

"I won't say anything," Santana promised. "But if she gives you any trouble…"

"I'll call you right away," Rachel told her smiling.

Santana and Rachel went back to their food and made themselves comfortable on the couch. After a few minutes, Santana said, "Do you think you could make Quinn suffer by making her go to a bunch of wedding planning things? She hates planning stuff and I've been around enough of what you do to know that she would dread tagging along. Piss her off by getting Kacie to force Quinn to go with her to all of that stuff."

"I like the way you think Lopez. I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

"I thought it was because I know all the good food places." Santana smirked.

Rachel giggled. "Well, that too."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Yeah, I know, this update took forever. But I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, added this story to their favorites, etc. And a special thanks to** LaurenKnight13** for leaving the sweetest reviews on every chapter! I love reading your opinion; your reviews make me smile each time, so thank you. :)

This chapter might be a bit boring but it's a set up for chapter six. ('; Enjoy everyone!

* * *

The following day, a Friday, Rachel had another meeting with Kacie and Quinn. This time they would go to a property that Kacie's parents loved. It was almost an hour away so Kacie had told Rachel that she and Quinn would just pick her up and they would go together. This was actually the day Kacie intended for Rachel to meet _Lucy _but the chance encounter at the dance lesson changed that.

Rachel wasn't excited for this. She knew she had to pretend that she didn't know Quinn, much less have feelings for the engaged woman, but she didn't know how to act. Kurt once told her that she was an incredible actress. But even so, in this particular situation she was afraid that Kacie and her parents would see right through her. However she did know one thing.

At least she wasn't the only one putting on an act. Quinn was too.

Rachel patiently waited for Kacie's call to say they were downstairs. She was wearing a casual sun dress, seeing as it would be sunny and warm, but still decided to put a black thin blazer over it. She also brought her satchel bag with her planning notebook, pens, her Polaroid camera with extra film, and emergency kit that she brought everywhere with her. She even put in some wedding magazines in her bag so she could look at during the long drive.

When Kacie finally texted her, she went down to the car and prepared herself for a long day. "Hey!" Kacie greeted happily when Rachel climbed into the backseat. "You look super nice!"

"Oh thank you," Rachel said awkwardly, putting her hair behind her ear. "Nice car."

"It's Lucy's," Kacie responded. "We would've taken _my _car but Ms. Quinn insisted we use her huge car."

"An hour drive in your tiny car didn't sound appealing honey," Quinn replied. She started pulling out of the parking lot and they were on their way.

The drive was quiet, except for the radio, for the first fifteen minutes. Rachel was reading the magazine and writing down notes from it in her notebook. Occasionally she'd look up to see what the two in front were doing and she almost gagged to herself when she saw Quinn kissing the back of Kacie's hand. Then she decided not to look up unless she was spoken to.

"Rachel, what are you doing?"

Rachel looked up ten minutes later when Kacie had asked her a question. "Um, getting ideas from this magazine," she told her. "For your wedding."

"Ooooh, can I look at the magazine?" Kacie asked excitedly.

"Of course," Rachel obliged. She handed Kacie the magazine and sighed, putting away her notebook. She looked over at Kacie, now amused, flipping through the thick magazine. Rachel allowed her eyes to travel to the rear view mirror and immediately regretted it. She had locked eyes with Quinn who hadn't said a word the entire trip so far. Rachel quickly looked away and focused outside the window.

A few minutes later Kacie squealed and turned the radio up. Rachel had no idea why she was so excited until she recognized the song playing. "The Way You Look Tonight" by Tony Bennett.

"I love this song," Kacie said dreamily and turned to Quinn. "Think it could be our song for the first dance?"

"I like it," Quinn replied.

Kacie looked back to Rachel. "What do you think?"

Rachel tried to hide the indifferent look on her face, making Kacie's face fall. "You don't like the song?"

"I…" Rachel paused to find the right words. "I think it's a bit…overused? And though this might be a little irrelevant, when _I _think of this song I think of My Best Friend's Wedding. You know, the movie? You want people to hear your first song and think 'Hey, that's from their wedding!' not, 'Oh, they must've gotten that from that one movie.' It's a great song, don't get me wrong, but it's a song that has other triggering moments."

"You're right," Kacie pursed her lips. "Well…we don't have to choose yet. We still have a lot of time. That could be one of the last things we figure out. But do you have any other song ideas?"

"It's not really my place," Rachel said awkwardly. "It's your first dance, not mine. Lucy, what do you recommend?"

Quinn cleared her throat. "I'd have to think about it."

"Huh," Rachel said under her breath. She allowed herself a look into the rear view mirror. Quinn was looking back at her, annoyed.

"Well like I said, we have time. There are way more important things to worry about. Rachel, what's the first thing we should really do?"

Rachel pulled out her notebook again and flipped to the To-Do list that she had prepared for this wedding and leaned over to show her. "These are what you need to do. The things at the top are the more important things, the ones we should do first, but they don't necessarily have to be in order. The bottom ones should be done once the top ones are sorted."

"_Wedding venue, date, wedding party, suppliers, budget, guest list,_" Kacie read. "Ugh, these are the boring ones, well except the wedding party."

"Well this is just a list to get you thinking about what you need to figure out first and once you start tackling these ones, you can start moving towards the bottom ones in case you start getting bored of the important ones. Planning your wedding should be fun, not exhausting. So it's important to make decisions about the top ones but it doesn't mean you shouldn't do the fun ones either. Like for example, if you're bored with thinking of your guest list one day, go to a wedding dress shop to cheer yourself up. Then maybe you'll be more inspired."

"Such a good idea," Kacie smiled. "Well if we're lucky we can knock off wedding venue today. Hopefully what my parents were saying about this place will live up to our expectations."

**xXx**

Just fifteen minutes later they pulled up to the huge resort villa. Rachel was completely mesmerized by the property and the building. The car circled around a huge statue that was spitting out water and the building itself was reminiscent of Spanish architecture. Large trees were all around and different colored plants surrounded the property. When Rachel stepped out of the car she took a minute to take it all in. It was just stunning. She brought out her camera and snapped a few pictures.

"It's gorgeous," she said to herself.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Mr. Martin engulfed her in a hug before she knew it. But Rachel hugged him back happily. He was such a cheerful man. "Let's show you guys around. If you like the front, you should see the backyard!" he exclaimed. He went to his wife and held her hand to lead Rachel, Quinn, and Kacie into the building.

Rachel continued to take pictures, of the interior, of the ballroom they passed which she thought would be a great location for the reception, and then walked through the huge doors to go to the back. Mr. Martin was right. The backyard was even more magnificent than the front.

The field looked like it would go on forever. There was a lake one direction, a path in another, colorful flowers were everywhere. Rachel could already imagine where the ceremony would take place, where the guests would sit, where Kacie and Quinn would stand. It was just perfect.

"What do you think?" Mr. Martin asked her, leading her down to where lunch was prepared.

"Beautiful," she admitted. "I'd have my wedding here if I was planning my own."

For some reason Rachel thought that Quinn looked at her as she sat down at the table, taking the seat directly in front of her, but she pushed the thought away. She was being silly. _It's not like every move she makes is about you_, Rachel thought to herself.

"From the first impression, I'm in love," Kacie said while a waiter put fruit onto her plate. "But we'll have to look around more and have Rachel draw up a map of how the ceremony would be set up."

"Oh don't worry, it's already brewing in my head," Rachel admitted smiling. She looked at the food being served for lunch. Undoubtedly it was prepared solely for the Martins by the resort. It was practically a buffet right in front of her. She went to serve herself a salad when a waiter beat her to it.

"Oh," Rachel said surprised. She sat back down and awkwardly waited for the waiter to be finished. Once her plate was covered, the waiter moved onto Quinn. She awkwardly picked up her fork, half expecting to be fed since it seemed that no one lifted a finger on their own.

"So, what you see in front of you are possible snacks for the wedding," Mrs. Martin clasped her hands together. "The villa was nice enough to do this for us on such short notice. This is potentially the food to eat once the courses are finished and while the party is going on. So fruit, salad, tiny sandwiches, little desserts. Think it's a good spread?"

"Does the villa do catering? If the wedding doesn't happen here then it might not be a—" Rachel started to say but was cut off.

"They do catering," Mr. Martin answered. "But they'll do it for free if the wedding's here."

"Okay," Rachel started to write down notes in her notebook. "What's this place called?"

"Tara," Mrs. Martin said. "It's named after—"

"The Tara Plantation," Rachel said in realization. "From—"

"Gone with the Wind."

Quinn came into the conversation for the first time since arriving to finish Rachel's sentence. The two caught each other's eyes and Rachel knew that Quinn was doing the same thing she was, remembering the night they went to the outdoor showing of Gone with the Wind. She couldn't believe that it only happened two days ago. And yesterday morning she was completely happy about what had happened only to be crushed that afternoon after "meeting" Quinn.

It was safe to say that Rachel pretty much lost her appetite.

The caterers were bringing out meals after meals though. After the snacks they brought out a steak dinner then seafood and so on and Rachel only managed to take a few bites of each. It was rich fare that even the finest weddings she'd planned never had. As the family tested and commented each meal, Rachel would right down what they said. Any yes, no's, or maybe's that they happened to say.

Rachel thought she would explode when she saw the tray of cake slices coming her way. But she couldn't not taste it when a plate was put in front of her. Thankfully though, when Kacie took a bite of the first one, she exclaimed, "This is it! I cannot imagine another cake tasting this good. Don't even bring out the others, I want this one."

Rachel jotted it down in her notes and took a quick picture before the waiters took it away. She looked over at Quinn and asked, "What about you?"

Quinn seemed to not have been paying attention. Her head snapped to look at her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Do you like the cake sweetheart?" Kacie asked.

"It's nice," was her plain answer. Rachel raised a brow, amused that Quinn was showing another sign that she wasn't ready to be married. The first sign had been going out to a movie with another woman. The second was now, giving uninterested answers on wedding decisions. A lot of clients Rachel had worked with weren't usually interested in the details but food was something they usually pay attention to when planning the big day. And even if they aren't interested in food, they at least acted as if they were.

Quinn was just plain zoning out.

"If you don't like it then—"

"I do," Quinn said quickly.

"You know, we can always have the big cake and then a small cake for the other bride," Rachel suggested.

"We can just have one," Quinn adamantly said. "No need to spend more money than necessary. The cake's going to be enough to feed everyone twice so write that down."

Rachel didn't have time to react to Quinn's snippy attitude towards her because the Martins beat her to it. "Lucy!" they all shouted at the same time. Kacie smacked Quinn across her shoulder. Rachel couldn't help but laugh that the family Quinn was marrying into were all chastising her for someone who was just the wedding planner.

"Don't be rude! Rachel's just trying to help!" Kacie told her fiancée.

"Oh don't worry, I'm writing it down," Rachel said jokingly, pretending to write in her notebook. That earned her a glare from the girl sitting directly in front of her. "_Bride_ _does not want own cake_. Anything else?"

"Yes actually, how about you—"

"Rachel?"

Rachel whipped her head around to whoever called her name. "Oh my gosh, Noah? I can't believe it's you!"

"Lovely Ms. Berry, it's nice to see you again," the suave Noah Puckerman gave Rachel a quick hug. "Who's this you're with? Girlfriend's family?" he said, pointing a finger at Quinn.

"Nooooo," Rachel said quickly and turned red. "These are clients. I don't know if Santana told you but I plan weddings now. This is Kacie Martin, her parents, and her fiancée Qui– Lucy." Noah took the time to shake everyone's hands and while doing so, Rachel turned her head to make herself take deep breaths. It was embarrassing enough that Noah had mistaken Quinn to be her girlfriend, but adding in the fact that she almost called "Lucy" her _different _name made it ten times worse.

"Would you like to join us?" Mrs. Martin politely asked. "We were just finishing up but we can have food set out for you."

"That's not necessary, but thank you," Noah replied. "I was just here making sure the property is up to my parents' standards. They own Tara."

"I should've known," Rachel teasingly pushed his shoulder. "This place has Puckerman written all over it!" And it did. Rachel knew Noah from high school; he was one of the rich transfers. For a short time he was Rachel's love interest. She was really intrigued by his bad boy exterior and persona, but for that exact reason it didn't last; he was a player and a major flirt. Often he would hold parties at his huge home and Rachel went to a few. Even after she had an embarrassing incident with him during one of their more… _physical_ moments, Noah always told her she was welcome at the Puckerman parties.

He flashed Rachel his beautiful smile before turning to the Martins and Quinn, who seemed to be interested in the cake on her plate. "Well, if you're looking at this place for a wedding venue I think you've found the perfect one. What you see now may be beautiful but I think there's another place on the property that I think you would enjoy holding the ceremony."

In a matter of minutes Noah had rallied up the group and got golf carts to take them to a further place on the property. Sitting next to Noah in the front of his own golf cart, Rachel listened to him chatter on about his experiences traveling with his family and how he plans on going into law at Yale, but he was taking a year off to prep. Rachel was surprised to say the least, but didn't let it show. Noah had never been into academics in high school. He never got a job and never needed to since his family was filthy rich. The fact that he even had something in mind for his future really impressed Rachel.

When they finally arrived, Noah led them to a place near the lake.

To anyone it would be completely plain and Rachel could see that the Martins and Quinn weren't impressed. "I can see it," Rachel said out loud, thinking about her design. "The lake can be the backdrop; the ceremony can take place at sunset. The chairs for the guests will be here, facing the lake. We can build a small little white stage for the bride and groom to stand right there, a beautiful canopy above them. It would be perfect!"

Rachel realized that everyone other than Noah was looking at her like she was a crazy person so she whipped out her notebook. She started to sketch the map and after a quick, messy drawing was done she showed it to them. "This is exactly how I see it. And we can somehow get the guests back and forth from the building to here using golf carts, right Noah?"

"Right you are Berry," He answered.

"And we'll have to figure out how to get the wedding party to this spot separately but that's not impossible," Rachel said. "So what do you think?"

Mr. and Mrs. Martin were still looking over the map when Kacie and Quinn walked over by themselves, discussing it. Feeling awkward, Rachel walked back to Noah. "Do you think they'll go for it?" she whispered. "It would be beautiful."

"It would be," Noah agreed. "You pretty much said exactly what I envisioned. That's why you and I made a good team back then and hey, maybe I can help you out here. I have nothing to do for a year."

Rachel rolled her eyes but smiled anyways. "I might take you up on the offer. You still got the same number?"

Noah nodded. Before Rachel could continue, Kacie was dragging Quinn over to them. "We love it," she began. "But we should probably look at other places right? This place is the top of the list though."

"Okay," Rachel said. "I'll look for other wedding venues for you."

"If you have other questions about the property, you let me know," Noah told the couple. "Rachel's got my number, just have her ring me."

"How do you two know each other?" Kacie asked curiously. Quinn turned her head as if to egg Rachel on to tell them. She wrapped an arm over Kacie's shoulders and asked, "Yes, how?"

"High school," Noah answered for them and looked down at Rachel. "Rachel here was obsessed with me."

Rachel scoffed to detract from her red face. "Was not."

"Obsessed how?" Quinn amusedly asked. Rachel glared at her but Quinn kept on smiling.

"Another story for another time," Noah replied. "Well, we should be getting back. It would be great if you guys got married here. You would be the first. And it'd be nice getting to see Rachel work her magic."

"Noah, stop," Rachel sighed. She was used to Noah's constant flattery, he always did it for any person he liked, but she could feel Quinn's death stare on her and she wasn't in the mood to deal with that. "Shall we go?"

They got back to the main building and Quinn, Kacie, and her parents went off to thank the caterers while Rachel said her goodbye to Noah. "Call me sometime and not work related, okay?" Noah asked while they hugged.

"I will if I find the time," Rachel promised. "Nice seeing you again."

"And maybe you can find out for me why that girl was glaring at me," Noah whispered in her ear.

"What?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"Lucy or whatever her name is," Noah answered. "Looked like she wanted to kill me."

Rachel waved it off. "That's silly. Now I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye Berry," Noah kissed the back of Rachel's hand and walked away from her, waving before he turned a corner. Rachel released a happy sigh and turned to find the Martins when she jumped. Quinn was standing right behind her, a bored expression on her face.

"Kacie asked me if I could drive you home, she's doing something with her parents," Quinn said monotonously. "Let's go."

Rachel watched Quinn head to the doors and she scoffed to herself. _What is her problem,_ she said to herself. _Was Noah right? Was Quinn staring him down? Either way, she has no right to. Cheater._ She took a deep breath to calm herself down and not strangle the girl and followed Quinn to the car. Once they were both in, Rachel took out her notebook to occupy herself when Quinn turned the radio on to a station she didn't particularly like.

_Well this is going to be a fun ride,_ she thought.


End file.
